Unique Books and Literary Gifts for the Curious Reader

It’s a welcome oddity of a book, an old-fashioned discussion on a number of topics, from maps to maritime intrigue; from the birth of a new worldview under Elizabeth I to Cold War environmentalism; from passionate bird-watching to the creation of marine reserves in English waters.

The Paradoxal Compass, Horatio Morpurgo - Review 31

Kirsty Gunn Talks About the Essay

Award-winning novelist and one of the judges of the 2017 Notting Hill Edition's Essay Prize, Kirsty Gunn, talks about the essay.

ESSAY / A loose sally of the mind. An irregular indigested piece not a regular and orderly composition. – Samuel Johnson (1709 – 1784)

NHE offers a home for the essay, rooting out the most original essays both by classic essayists and by contemporary writers stretching and playing with its form.

View our Essay Library

Editor's PicksDiscover our beautifully produced hardbacks

'Things I Don't Want to Know' is a unique response to George Orwell from one of our most vital contemporary writers. Taking Orwell's famous list of motives for writing as the jumping-off point for a s...

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Cyclogeography: Journeys of a London Bicycle Courier

Cyclogeography is an essay about the bicycle in the cultural imagination and a portrait of London seen from the saddle. The bicycle enables us to feel a landscape, rather than just see it, and in the ...

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Questions of Travel: William Morris in Iceland

The great Victorian William Morris was fascinated by Iceland, which inspired him to write one of the masterpieces of travel literature. Poet Lavinia Greenlaw follows in his footsteps, combining excerp...

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